Another Power Cord Comparo?

My Kuzma Stabi SD set up, with 12 inch arm and Benz Micro LP cartridge, still same as before. However, I never though switching power cords to the AC speed controller(left) can make so much changes to the sound

Agree or not, power cords do make a difference to the sound of hifi that we hear. My experiences with power cord, or any other audio cable, is well documented in these pages. However, almost all the power cord swapping I made was direct to electronics, such as power cord to CD player, or cassette deck, pre-amp & power amps surely. Love the journey so far.

However lately, I am a little baffled when I swapped power cords to the AC speed controller of my Kuzma Stabi SD turntable. Why am I baffled, you asked? Well you see, unlike a CD player or cassette deck, the AC speed controller has no electrical connection what so ever to the turn table, tone arm or cartridge! The AC speed controller only powers the belt drive motor, which only point of connection to the turn table is the rubber belt, which is mechanical! So, in a way you can say electrical changes the working properties of mechanical, if the sound I heard is different from swapping each of the 4 power cords below? I will run down what I distinctly heard with each power cord below:

    

Audi Agile Concept Tuning is a shielded power cord design. However in this application, it just sounded very un-refined with white hash, not very good for a shielded design 

First up, the Audio Agile Concept Tuning power cord. Once plugged in to the Kuzma AC speed controller, the music has a nice rhythmic sure foot ness to the sound, as some would recognize as PRAT factor. The tonality was very neutral balanced high, mid & low. Bass was bold, solid and nicely tuneful. Mids are un-colored but the highs is where this cable fails. There's a constant white hash mixed in to the high frequency reproduction which results in a somewhat streaky and shrill treble. Cymbals are splashy & high hats sound edgy & hardened. May be that was why the Kuzma CAR-30 cartridge sounded the way it did? Because at that time of the Kuzma CAR-30 review, this power cord was used and perhaps the Kuzma was just reflecting the contributions of the Audio Agile Concept Tuning power cord? Was I being fair to the Kuzma? I think it might be time to re-visit that cartridge in the near future..........

  

Supra Lorad 2.5 power cord is a very soft and nicely shielded design, which I used in a variety of application, but doesn't seems to work well enough for this AC speed controller use

The Supra Lorad 2.5 power cable is next. Once I swapped the Supra in, replacing the Audio Agile, the first & immediate relief is the high frequencies. Gone are the splashy cymbals and hardened high hats. The white hash that's mixed in to the music's high frequencies are much, much reduced too, but nevertheless, I still heard a bit of the white hash. Much like the Audio Agile, the mids are neutral but bass is a little less tuneful, or bouncy as they say. Bass body is no longer as bold, but still maintained a nice degree of solidness. Overall, this is a much better cable, for the Kuzma AC speed controller for it's sins of omission which is for all purposes, less offensive, but no less enjoyable.

PS Audio Punch power cord. I have more than a few PS Audio power cords used in my hifi system, and it's one of my go to power cords usually. Not sure why it's the worst sounding cable here?

Next up replacing the Supra Lorad, is the PS Audio Punch power cord. This is the thickest and least flexible power cord of the group. I had to wrestle it like a cobra before I could get it to plug in to the Kuzma AC speed controller IEC socket. And once plugged in the weight & the rigidness of the PC Audio Punch power cord caused the light weight AC controller to stand on it's hind legs! I had to put a weight on the AC speed controller for a day to keep it on all 4 feet. Once I started listening, the sound ain't that pretty either! 

The PS Audio sounding so slow, that I have to re-calibrate the speed controller for 33 &45 rpm a few notches faster. Next problem is the bass, which is fat & muddy. Mid range is totally over warm to the point of sounding over riped. The highs are rolled off and surprisingly, not too refined either! The only good thing was that the white hash is gone! I waited a few days, hoping for the power cord to settle down, and hopefully things will improve. However it still sounding more or less as described above even after 2 weeks in the turn table system. I had come to a point where enough is enough!

To be fair, I later used the PS Audio Punch power cord on my Teac UD-501 DAC and it sounded extremely pleasant & nice, which took off some of the digitalis grain from the streaming music. Well at least it didn't go to waste...............

    

This Gotham 85025 cut from reel power cord & Copper Color plug combo really surprised me for it's low cost to performance ratio. Possibly one of the best DIY power cord one can make

The last and final candidate is a DIY effort where I bought Gotham 85025 cut from reel power cord and self terminated with Copper Color Rhodium plugs for both IEC and NEMA ends of the power cord. I must remarked that from my experience using those China made Copper Color plugs, they are some of the best value, nicely built and great sounding plugs, if your budget does not stretch that far or you may feel Furutech plugs are not required. The Copper Color plugs are probably the best China made plugs you can buy today.

Sorry, I digressed. I proceeded to remove the PS Audio Punch and use this Gotham power cord instead. The moment the needle first dropped, I knew I am experiencing musical bliss again. Yes, the AC controller speed had to be tuned down again for 33 & 45rpm, after the PS Audio adjustment. Once the speed was set right, everything is nice and balanced, with a top down coherent of frequency reproduction. No more white hash audible in the highs either. The highs were clean yet refreshingly airy, smooth with no trace of edginess or hardness. The mids are nicely rounded and projected slightly up front, which makes the vocals stand out from the music. The bass starts & stops accurately, with clean note to note transfer, and no hang overs. The cables are not overly thick, slightly stiff, but still very bendable and at the very least, no need to wrestle it like a cobra.

Of the 4 power cords I tested here, I found the Gotham cable & Copper Color plug combo most balanced & satisfying to listen to. So impressed with it, I made another set of the same combo to power my Linn LP12 Mose kit external power supply box for the Hercules Gold II board.     

I can neither explain or validate what I experienced with the 4 different power cords and how it effects the sound of the turn table, despite being non electrically connected. It's just another of those things in hifi that baffles the mind. If you are reading up to here and think you have a good explanation to my experience, please comment below. I am looking forward to learn from you guys too!

Vinyl Candy, Kuetsu Black By Musashino Audio Labo

The Koetsu Black MC cartridge from the 80's it had an output of just 0.25mv, so you'll need a high gain, low noise phono stage to go with it. Weighting in at almost 10 grams, this is a medium compliance cartridge.

After living with my Kuzma CAR-30 for a few months, I was just itching for a cartridge change to go with my Kuzma Stabi XL turn table set up. I was hoping to find a used Shelter 901 in any incarnation, as there was MKII and MKIII after the original. I know, the Shelter is not the latest & greatest, but it is a comfort cartridge so to speak. It's been around for years, the sound is familiar on the warmer side of tonality, which is what I love. Then along came this Koetsu Black by Musashino Audio Labo.........

Like the Shelter, Koetsu is another familiar brand that has been around for a very long time. The story goes something like this, Sugano-san is a retired automotive engineer at Toyota. Post retirement, he ventured in to the art of hand winding cartridges, as Sugano-san is also a music lover himself. His hand wound cartridges, then called Koetsu Black, due to it's use of a black, powder coated aluminum body, was a hit in the market and by 1985, Sugano-san was unable to cope with the orders that were coming in worldwide. Hence there after he commissioned Musashino Audio Labo to help with the manufacturing of the Koetsu Black. By the 90's Sugano-san was too old to continue with the business and his son took over and expended the empire!(so to speak)

With new management came new ideas, and Koetsu started to introduced new materials such as Rosewood, Vermilion Varnishes, then gemstones such as Jade or Coral stone to the body, to basically add flavor over that classic hand wound over boron cantilever motor since the Black. As a result of using ever more exotic materials, Koetsu prices also start to increase over the years, top that off with hifi inflation, which is never in single digit territories, you get the idea!  Today Koetsu is mostly seen as high end cartridge maker, with the entry level model, still called the Koetsu Black Goldline retailing at a cool USD 2,500 a piece!     

On the top side, where the mount screw holes are, is where you can tell if it's an original Sugano-san hand wound early model, or in this case, the 1985 onwards Muasashino Audio Labo produced unit, with serial number to boot.

As usual, I digressed. Anyway picked up an ol' Koutsu Black by Musashino Audio Labo from a contact who happens to live nearby, and mounted it on to my Kuzma Stogi S12 inch arm. With a square body, the Koetsu was easy to mount and complete alignment to the tone arm.  Once the tracking force was set to 2 grams, I can start to play my LPs. From the first note, I have never felt the serenity that a piece of hifi equipment brought to my audio experience! The sweet highs were rolled off for that soft fluffy, disappearing in to the thing air of nothingness, always to soothing to ear...... The rolled of highs kinda makes the mid range slightly pronounced, which to me ears is always a good thing. Bass is solid, full bodied, but can sometimes sound lumpy too. However, that's only when you start to dissect the sound. When heard as whole, the sound is at once rose tinted hue with lushness, and vocalist centric all rolled in to one homogenously. 

If you're still reading up to this point, you'd conjectured a rather warm and comfortable sound but could be boring in the longer term, question? The answer is NO, with each LP or recording being played, the tonal colors of the music are flushed out in full, never monotonous! I often find my self appreciating all those tonal colors I never heard before in a recording, even if I've heard them a thousand times before the Koetsu, trust me it's that amazing! With the Koetsu, the music always flow with musical foot tapping tune, no doubt about that. Which is why despite it's warm tonality which endears it so well to genre like vocals, especially female(Tsai Chin or Teresa Teng comes to mind), jazz, and simple baroque style classical music, the Koetsu actually surprises me with it's ability to rock too! I some how always play my air guitar when I put on a rock LP. Hmm.............. Last but not least, the Koetsu just wipes out all the LP's surface noise better than most other cartridges, reducing most pops & clicks to nearly undiscernible levels. How ever if an LP is scarred, then then grove rot can still be heard, but much less rude sounding.

Now it can't be all pros with no cons, right? Yes, there are short falls to when it came to resolution. When compared with my Benz Micro LP, a slightly newer MC cartridge design, which have been with me for over 10 years now, mounted on the various turn tables I have played with, the Koetsu would lose out by emitting the finer musical details & tonal shadings so apparent on the Benz. Also when comparing to both the Benz and the Kuzma CAR-30, the band width of the Koetsu is left somewhat wanting as well.  The Koetsu also have a tendency to sound a bit slow in the proceedings if your platter speed is tune to correct 33.3 rpm using the strobo scope. My review is based on the setting of pushed up speed button by 2 notches, on the Kuzma's electronics speed control, both on 33 & 45 rpm. Some times, doing it right technically just sounds wrong!

   

This is the current version of Koetsu Black Goldline, with a gold plate at the bottom and slightly tapered body at the front. However many say it sounds more like a modern interpretation of the older Koetsu Black!  

And here I am, a happy camper at last, and by now, you would have formed the conclusion that I love the Koetsu Black a lot!  However, with that said, my impression of Koetsu was never great to start with, as it always gave me the impression of an ol'man's cartridge. To be honest, I have never heard anyone playing rock music with a Koetsu up till now. My previous brush in with the Koetsu always had me listening to Tasi chin, and other audiophile music only.  Now that I have one, I have new found respect for the Koetsu Black cartridge.

Now, from what I heard is that the current Koetsu Black Goldline has a slightly less rosy hued view on music and come with a slightly more modern(i.e. watered down or flattened) sound signature compared to those 80's originals made by Sugano-san himself, or the Musashino Audio Labo version. Some of those who are lucky enough to have compared, also swear that the Musashindo Audio Labo version is already watered down compared to the original early 80's Sugano-san hand wound version! Personally I have no way to verify those claims unless I go crazy and buy all 3 versions of the Koetsu Black to try. So, now I can understand the mystical journey & the plot twist and turns of the Koetsu Black cartridge, which has come a long way since. And don't you just love hifi brands that have a tradition and story line that lasted more than 40 years & counting? 

All Kuzma Experience, Kuzma CAR-30L MC Cartridge

Now that my Benz Micro LP has been relocated to my Linn Sondek LP12, I have to find another cartridge to go on duty in Kuzma Stabi S12 double plater turn table. After much deliberation, I decided to try the full Monty from Kuzma by going with the CAR-30L cartridge. The Kuzma range cartridge is based on the ZYX motor assembly, but with an added machined aluminum body, bumping the cartridge weight to 17 grams. At this point, not many tone arms can hold this baby steady any more, but my 12 inch Stogi can do so.  

The Kuzma CAR-30L outputs at 0.3mv and is considered the middle child in the Kuzma cartridge range. After mounting, aligning and setting the cartridge up to a tracking force of 2.2grams. I used the built in phono stage section of my Aesthethix Janus Signature pre-amp with a setting of 56 decibels gain & 126 ohms loading. Now, I can start playing some LPs.

The Kuzma cartridge range from CAR-20 to CAR-60. Only the top 2 cartridges are marked out by their colored bodies

The Kuzma CAR-30L cartridge, seen here with the stylus protector

What the Kuzma CAR cartridge looks like without the stylus protector. With an over square aluminum body, it makes setting up and cartridge alignment work super easy

From the get go, I found this cartridge to be completely neutral in tonal balance, very similar to the ZYX cartridges in which it is based upon. However, that's where the similarity ends, because the Kuzma CAR-30L will go low in bass and with absolute dynamics to match. This is a fast transient cartridge, very much in the mold of Clearaudio sound signature, but only with bolder and bigger stage scale. Vocals have a big bone quality to them in the flesh. High frequencies are extended, but never ear jarring. Very exciting introduction in to the full Kuzma sound of course!

However over time as the cartridge settles in, I slowly found the CAR-30L lacking in tonal richness, the very kind a person gets in to all the trouble that vinyl presents for. There's no warmth in the music what so ever to speak of. I also found myself wishing for more air, more ambience in the music. I need my analog rig to have some tonal color, rose bud tint if necessary, I also need some soul in my analog rig.

Another issue I found over time was that despite it's 17 grams heft, and a 2.2 grams tracking force, the CAR-30L did not track as well as my Benz Micro LP mounted on the 9 inch  Ittok tone arm. I am starting to think if it's the cartridge it self? Arm length factor, or uni-pivot vs gimbal factor in play here? I never got a straight answer as in most things audio. This was particularly evident when playing badly warp records, which I've got a few. In most cases, the very same LP which would result in the full Kuzma rig skipping a beat, the Linn combo set up would just cruise along, musically un-feathered. With it's weight advantage, I was initially expecting the Kuzma to be the clear winner here, but it wasn't to be. Hifi paradox in all it's un-predictable glory is truly evident here. After months of wondering what happened, I never found the technical explanation to rest my case.   

I know, the choice for a suitable cartridge in any system is a daunting search, made worse by the sea of cartridges available in all forms & prices. It's been a long time since I last did any cartridge shopping. This CAR-30L has shown me about all the things that make a technical argument compelling, but the music when playback trough this cartridge, just never touch my soul, or stirred my emotions. It does so many things right when dissected, yet music as a whole, never sounded full filing in anyways. It has lead me to wonder that if I crave for more tonal color, more warmth, more humanity in vinyl playback? I can only put it to a matter of personal preference. I also know a few others who are very happy with the performance of this cartridge in their analog set up, and it was in one of those systems that I heard, made my jump in to the all Kuzma analog source idea. In my system, this was not to be unfortunately. Overall I still think the Kuzma CAR-30L offered much technical performance, and hence much value for money too, but it just didn't give me the kind of emotional attachment or engagement that I am looking for in my music. 

Just a generic picture to illustrate the Kuzma CAR-30l cartridge mounted to the Stogi S tone arm and Stabi S9 turn table

I'll leave you with a song title by the rock group, The Clash. Shall I stay of shall I go? 

Re-Introduction To My HiFi Circa January 2019

My simplified 2 rack HiFi system, circa January 2019, to start my journey again after a 3 year plus hiatus

Let me tell you about my reintroduction in to HiFi again, circa January 2019. With a remodeled home many things have changed, except my man cave, whic remains untouched at the same 12ft x 10ft x 9ft(L x W x H). Small room, and the urge to make it 14ft x 10ft x 9ft(L x W x H) was there, but I had resisted as I loved the way the speakers loaded my room, sound wise. So all it got was a fresh new coat of paint & some LED strip lighting. I started with the room because over the years, my HiFi philosophy have come to embrace the room as the starting point, followed by speakers, amplifiers & lastly sources in the order of hierarchy in the degree of sound influence. Allow me to further explain why it all starts with the room. The room as we choose to house our HiFi system in to, will determine how big a speaker pair allowed, which will in turn tell you how big a power amplifier should be, then comes preamp to be the source switch and volume control plus maybe, just maybe add sonic flavours to your source, which ever you choose. Make no mistake, the job of the source is to extract as much musical information from the media medium as possible. My hifi set up reflects just that philosophy as above and a little more as we go along. 

This set up consisted of items that were mothballed from the past, such as my PMC IB2i speakers, ATI Reference 6004 power amp, Kuzma Stabi S turn table and lastly Torus Power conditioner. Add in some new elements such as the Aesthetix Janus preamp/phono stage & Sony CDP X7-ESD CD player. 

PMC IB2i speakers

The PMC IB2i have been in my past system before. They came in to the picture as replacement to the pair of PMC Fact 8. I fell in love with this pair of speakers at the time of it's review in these pages. At the time, budgetary issues prevented them from being mine. However as PMC introduced a newer model in the form of IB2 SE, this pair made it's way from the showroom to my place with some discount. My HiFi philosophy also dictates that speakers should always be British, especially variations or students of the past BBC Technical Dept designs. Those guys really did much research in to all that make great speakers.

In theory, the pair of IB2i speakers are somewhat over sized for my room dimensions, but with careful placements of not only the speakers, but also my throne in avoiding room modes, made it a possibility in practice. These are speakers with a big sound and real beefy bass. Being a 3 way design with a dedicated silk dome mid range, the magical vocal is always there, ever present when playing music. The highs are not extended like newer speaker designs, but that's OK, as with the right source material, it can still relay the amount 'air' required for 'live' recording that is so dependent on the illusion of being there. The Achilles heel of having such a big speaker is the requirement for an equally big, beefy amp, which is the subject coming next!
     

ATI Reference 6004 power amp

ATI is not a new HiFi manufacturer as they have been doing that for other big American high end brands since 30 years or so ago. ATI amplifiers are designed by Morris Kessler, even if not as famous as Nelson Pass, Mark Levinson, Dan D' Agostino or John Curl, he is definitely in the same technical prowess when it comes to amplifier designs. All good designers but different design philosophies & technical implementation. Coming back to my HiFi philosophy for amps, my choice would always be American muscle.

The ATI Reference 600X series is designed as a multi channel high end AV amp. It can be configured for 1-7 channels in a single chassis at time of purchase. I wanted a four channel 350W amp, so I got an ATI Reference 6004, the last numerical denotes the number of channels in a single chassis. Why 4 channels you ask? Bi-amping, ever since I did that with a pair of stereo Magnet amps, I can never go back to normal stereo. So each one of the PMC IB2i speaker is powered by one channel for the bass driver & one channel for the mid range & tweeter.

I found the ATI Reference to be extremely transparent & powerful for an AV multi channel design. Which is all one needs for HiFi, gain on a wire. Some may accuse it of not being the last word in refinement and I agree, but it has a certain mid range texture that's invariably missing on those over refined amp designs too. So in HiFi, you always win some, lose some. It's just what parameter is more important to win or lose only, your choice determines the brand and design.

Asthetix Janus pre-amp, comes with built in phono stage. It is basically a simplified Calypso & Rhea rolled in one box for those who needs to de-clutter their HiFi!

The Aesthetix Janus represents another American amp choice for me even if it's a tube based design. We reviewed the Aesthetix Calypso in these pages before and liked it quite a bit. I felt it's performance came closest my pre-amp reference of sorts, the Audio Research Reference 3. Many argue that this is a decades old design, but to me this tube based pre-amp struck a balance between  being transparent & the way it adds a tinge of golden rose hue to the tonal color of music is nothing short of magical. Newer ARC Reference designs have since improved on linearity, lowered noise floor & higher resolution capability, but lost it's musical soul in the process.

Sorry if I digressed, but the Aesthetix Janus represented just that, as in the very slight tinge of rose gold hue added in to the tonal color does wonders to lift music, give it soul, make it just a little bit more humanized. Partner those sonic qualities with a full function remote and high quality phono stage, then is it any wonder why it deserves to be here?

I know Jim White as an excellent phono stage designer. If one can excel at making 1000X amplification,  preamp design would seemed like childs play, wouldn't it?   

Sony CDP X7-ESD CD player, the best of Sony circa 1988!

The 1988 Sony CDP X7-ESD is a special breed indeed, if you didn't know that? I have not come across another CD player that comes with transformer coupled XLR output! The X7-ESD is the first ES series CD player to include XLR output, and Sony went all out to make it special. While the BB PCM 53 DAC chip is one generation before the best, PCM 63, the sound from this Sony unit is truly something else. I used to have the Marantz CD 7, which was a truly magnificent CD player, if not for it's sound quality, then at least for it's collector's value.

The Sony is from a decade before the Marantz, yet will not lose out anything in terms of sound quality, shows that Sony as the CD format's co-developer was truly ahead of the curve at the period of what could be called the Golden Age of CD players, which is from the late 80's till late 90's. I would almost always favor high end Japanese CD players(the other exception being Philips CD players) as they made the transports, and built them to last a life time. I know mine did, it's more than 30 years now and still plays music like as if it was new!

Kuzma Stabi S, or baby Kuzma as many would come to call it!

This Kuzma Stabi S replaced my Linn LP12 turn table sometime after this pages probably in 2014. In terms of design the Kuzma is totally a different breed altogether. I liked the bare bones design of a solid high mass turn table equipped with a 12 inch unit pivot Stoggi arm, fitted with my trusty, long service Benz Micro LP cartridge.

For a small turn table, the sound is big boned & bold. The design is also very quiet in terms of bearing noise and that double thick cast iron platter gives equally big, ballsy bass. Never mind if it's the cheapest turn table among Franc Kuzma designs. The Kuzma family sound is just as evident here as in his bigger, badder ass designs. it's also a very musical turn table, otherwise it will be difficult to persuade me to move away from the Linn Sondek LP12.

Torus Power RM 8A, yes 8 Amperes is all you need. It's showing 1.6A current draw at idle, when my system hits it's Rock & Roll stride at 104dbs, it would be drawing a little over 4.2A! 

The Torus Power Conditioner needs no introduction as you can catch or revisit my adventures with it here within these pages. That's what buying the best equipment do, it stays with you for a long..... time, and possibly maybe for a lifetime. No further thinking about what ifs or regrets later, years down the road.

So that's all about the equipment, as all cables and accessories are carried over from the past and can be viewed from these pages. All I can say is that after 3 years living without HiFi, I am just glad to be back and have sound, good or bad. My journey starts all over again from here on.